Cradle of Eternity
by Cyndi
Summary: What he has sought his whole life is fully realized in this moment... [reposted because this site screwed up and wouldn't display it.]


Soundtrack for this story: _Adiemus_ by Adiemus.  
Note: This may not make sense unless you've read one of my older fics, _Shezilla: The Cloning Project_.

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**Cradle of Eternity**

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Godzilla, glowing like an erupting volcano, stood oblivious to the death of his son's killer. He looked down at his hands, gasping when he saw the flesh bubbling. Then his lips and cheek stung. He watched his own flesh melt off his nose. Steam poured from his mouth. Suddenly, he could barely draw air into his lungs. Agony spread over his body each time his heart beat. His very blood boiled. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, he couldn't move.

He was so confused and scared...

Godzilla looked once more at his adopted son's corpse. He'd failed him, just like he failed his mate.

Then comes the end.

He moans in sorrow. His tears bubble away before they leave his eyes. The grooves in his hide glow like angry magma under cracked earth. Then his organs, which have been boiling for days, begin to explode one by one. Godzilla leans back and screams to the stars, his cry a pathetic gurgle as his body utterly betrays him. He tries to breathe, to scream, to cry, but he no longer has a larynx or a trachea or lungs or even a diaphragm.

Reality is nothing but confusion and heat and suffocation and fire and his flesh melting and his blood boiling and eyeballs popping and steam and his heart exploding and his intestines burning and pain and pain and endless, endless **PAIN** -

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...and then it all becomes a memory in the gathering fog. Not memories of how he came here, no, he is remembering what came before. He remembers his death, his life and his pre-life until everything runs together in a confused jumble.

Godzilla lowers his head and blinks. The mist is clearing. Cloudless red and gold skies hover above the smoldering mountains. Trees from ages past dot the landscape. Footprints dig deep trenches in the brown mud. He flexes his toes, feeling its moist warmth squish against his claws.

Then a volcano erupts, shooting orange lava into the sky. Its glow illuminates the hilltop, silhouetting a figure standing just inside the silver mist.

Shezilla.

Time ceases to exist.

Shezilla turns her head to the side and a small hatchling appears beside her. She has her mother's face and her dorsal fins are just bony nubs, but her eyes are more like...

Godzilla can't believe it. The hatchling's dark gold eyes are a mirror of his own.

Slowly, fearing he will awaken, the King of the Monsters squats to a less menacing level. The young one waddles awkwardly down the hill. Her steps are clumsy and she falls. He catches her and lifts her up by the armpits, a gesture that looks almost human. The hatchling is tiny, barely the height of his mate's knee. And _she is not afraid of him_. She looks at him with all the innocence in the universe.

Then she sticks her tongue out and licks the tip of his snout.

What he has sought his whole life is fully realized in this moment. Everything he suffered through - the cold fireball that destroyed the world, the little creatures that abandoned him to the exploding sun, the ruined territory he rediscovered after he changed and all the _anguish_ - is all wiped away with that simple gesture.

He closes his eyes and smiles, nuzzling the little one as tears stream down his cheeks.

Godzilla sets his daughter down and lets her follow him up the hill. He takes Shezilla's hands and squeezes them, trying to convey to her his happiness. Shezilla lifts her head to meet his gaze. Her eyes are bright, like suns and stars and the sparkles on the misty water behind her. She is _beautiful_ to him. He rubs his nose against hers. She presses her snout to his, finding those sensitive folds near the corners of his mouth, and he trembles with desire for her touch. Her sweet musk fills his nose and makes his eyes flutter. He leans over to lap the ticklish spot behind her ear. She squirms against him, playfully nipping his cheek.

To _touch_ her, to _feel_ her again after so long...

The sun rises over the water. It reminds Godzilla of the light that changed him, but it neither rumbles nor grows. He is not afraid of it.

Shezilla faces the light. She tilts her head back and roars, her trumpet-like voice clear and strong. The little one bellows next, her cry tiny and hissing. Godzilla is so proud of her first roar. He picks her up and cradles her on one arm. She squeaks, nipping his shoulder. He is about to roar himself when he hears a call like his own echo from the sky. He looks behind him to find only mist.

Something is missing. He realizes he hasn't seen his adopted son anywhere...and just as quickly realizes why.

He tilts his head back and howls victoriously, for even Death can not win against him. Shezilla leans back and joins his triumph. The hatchling roars with them. Their combined cries part the mist and shake the sun.

Godzilla faces forward and takes Shezilla's hand. He looks deep into her eyes. They step into the water together. As the waves rise to his waist, Godzilla wraps his tail around Shezilla's. He licks the end of his daughter's nose. Then he nuzzles his mate. They all smile at each other, their eyes shining.

Surrounded by the love of his mate and daughter, Godzilla - the King of the Monsters - slips gently into the stars.


End file.
